Research

Research has the potential to shape patient care and help us understand how to reach people at risk of hepatitis C.

Our staff and volunteers engage thousands of people who have – or may have – hepatitis C every year. This gives us unique insight into the experiences and needs of people who have or may be at risk of hepatitis C.

Our research builds on the work our services do, focusing on improving the health and care for the people we work with, strengthening our services and helping us advocate on behalf of the people we support. 

We work in partnership with universities, healthcare services, government departments, people who have hepatitis C and other charities. We conduct our own research, co-deliver research projects and ensure insights from people with lived experience feed into the design of others’ studies.

Our research is guided by our Research Advisory Group and our Peer Researchers.

Current projects

Our current research programme has two main areas of focus:

1. Supporting sustained hepatitis C elimination, in particular exploring how hepatitis C prevention and the reach of hepatitis C services can be improved nationwide.
2. Understanding the impact of people with lived experience (peers) in the design and delivery of hepatitis C and wider health and care services.

Linked to both of these aims, our Peer Engagement and Impacts in Health Services (PEERs) study with Glasgow Caledonian University is mapping how and why peer models impact people’s health and how peers change the health systems they work within.

Peer research

We believe in peer-led services, and we believe in peer-led research. 

Our team of peer researchers are trained in a range of research methods and work with us to identify our research priorities and to design and deliver research projects. They also work with other academics delivering peer-led research.

#peersupportmeans

As part of their work, our peer researchers conduct interviews for our #PeerSupportMeans blog series. These blogs aim to capture the importance of our peer led services and offer insight into the day-to-day roles of our staff.

Read all the stories in our #PeerSupportMeans interview series.

Our peer researchers volunteer for The Hepatitis C Trust in different roles across the country. Their contribution to our research work is invaluable to helping us understand the challenges that people at risk of hepatitis C face to accessing health care.